Han Ziyan watched Han Ruochen and her big brother walk away. Her already twisted heart had turned even blacker; she was determined to go and talk with her mother and ask her about what to do about Han Ruochen’s sneaky actions of snatching her luck. She needed to get it back before the woman ruined her.

Han Ziyan hurried down to the village.

While Han Ziyan was in a hurry to tell her mother about her discovery, Han Ruochen was making her way down the street, where she bought a few decent packs of cigarettes. When Han Yong saw it, he wanted to stop her because he did not want a young woman to familiarise herself with a bunch of men. However, before he could stop her, Han Ruochen said to him, "Brother, you are already aware of the situation at home. We have lost all our savings, and we have nothing left. I need to do this, or else if something out of the ordinary happens, I won’t be able to do anything to help."

As soon as she finished, Han Yong’s face flushed red. He was the elder brother, and yet Han Ruochen did not even think of relying on him. But Han Yong did not have the face to question her because he was aware of his own virtue. He knew that he was not a good man or a good son.

More importantly, he was a pauper.

He had no savings for his future either, with Madam Xu and her family taking every penny from him. It was quite shameful to admit it, but somewhere, he blamed his father for not fighting strongly with his mother and letting him marry a woman like Madam Xu. He was thinking of returning home after going bankrupt, but after hearing what his sister told him, what could he even do? Could he go back home and ask his father to raise him? With what money? They had nothing left in their hands.

Sighing, Han Yong chased after Han Ruochen, who was now walking toward a small shop with a determined pace.

"Hello, do you know where the closest shipyard is at the moment?" Han Ruochen asked the man sitting outside the small snack shop.

When the man heard her question, he raised his head and looked at her with some surprise. "Why do you want to know about the closest shipyard?"

Han Ruochen smiled and took out the cigarettes that she had bought earlier and handed them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at the cigarettes and then at Han Ruochen. Han Ruochen looked like a fairly young woman, and yet it seemed like she knew her way around the business world.

"Young lady, you are not very old, but you know your way around the world."

Out of politeness, the shopkeeper did not light the cigarette up and simply put it behind his ear.

"Tell me, how big a boat do you want to buy? And why do you want to buy it?"

Han Ruochen thought for a while and then replied, "About fifteen metres. I want to buy it for fishing."

When the shopkeeper heard her response, he was stunned. His eyes went wide, and he looked at the woman in front of him in shock. He never expected to hear such a response. How come a woman as young as her was able to buy a ship as big as fifteen metres?

His gaze suddenly filled with admiration, and he could not help but say, "Young lady, you are quite capable. Of course, if you were not capable, how could you have purchased such an expensive pack of cigarettes?"

Han Ruochen smiled upon hearing his praise; she simply shook her head and said, "I am just going there to take a look and nothing else." She couldn’t let anyone know that she was carrying a lot of money with her, or else it would turn problematic.

She could only smile politely and say, "Do you have any recommendations? If you do, please let me know, as it might be of help to me."

The shopkeeper saw that she was genuinely asking and pondered for a moment before replying, "There are two shipyards in the county. I heard that these two shipyards mainly produce fishing boats. You can also ask them to customise the boat as per your requirements. They will listen as long as you pay a decent sum of money."

When Han Ruochen heard that there were two shipyards, she couldn’t help but blurt out, "Which one of these two is more cost-effective?"

However, as soon as she finished asking, the shopkeeper flashed her a smile and said, "Now, I cannot tell you that. Can I?"

Only then did Han Ruochen realise that she might have asked something wrong. She smiled sheepishly and handed the man another pack of cigarettes before saying to him, "I am sorry; I was just asking casually."

He was clearly staying close to one of the shipyards and couldn’t say anything bad about it.

That was what Han Ruochen thought, but then the shopkeeper looked around and said in a low voice, "There is a shipyard ten metres away from here, but it has been there since I was young. The technology there is not good, and yet the price that they set is quite high. Compared to that, the new one just started three years ago; the boats are newer, and the motors are also good. As for the price, the newer one is cheaper, as it has just started."

Han Ruochen understood the gist, but she still thought that it was better to go and check the situation of the two shipyards. She indeed said, "Then I will go to the faraway one."

The far one was the new shipyard.

The shopkeeper nodded and then went back inside the shop, while Han Ruochen turned to look at her brother, who was still looking at her as if he had seen a ghost. "What?" she asked with a frown.

"How did you do that?" Han Yong asked. Since when did his stubborn and ice-cold sister become such a socialiser?